Special: We begin our weeklong look at our 52 favorite games of 2007.

From the January releases of Lost Planet, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, WoW: The Burning Crusade and Hotel Dusk all the way to the end of the year with it's flurry of fantastic games one after the other, 2007 has been an amazing year for gaming. With the first full year of the seventh-generation of gaming coming to a close, there is a lot to look forward to in 2008.

But first let's take a look back and pretend that we won't get a chance to play any of those great games that are lined up for 2008 (Step back from the ledge Smash Bros. fans). Let's pretend that the only games in 2008 we'll get to play are ones from 2007 because these are the 52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2007.

"Games like ArmA definitely stand out among the sea of like-minded, twitch-based shoot-em-ups. They make few of the concessions that plague most games in their attempt to be user-friendly for the largest possible audience. There are no health bars, no easy system for quickly grabbing ammo from a downed comrade, no mini map that shows the location of friendlies and enemies. ArmA: Combat Operations will undoubtedly please the hardcore fans disappointed with the action-oriented arcadish play found on the thousands of deathmatch and team deathmatch servers out there." - Jason Cisarano
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Say what you will about the hype and hotness of Jade Raymond, Assassin's Creed is the real deal. Exploring the world of the Third Crusade as one of the original Hashshashins provides an experience that has never really been seen in a video game before. While Assassin's Creed has proven to be not for everybody, the concepts it explores will no doubt sow the seeds for a series of sequels for years to come. - John Scalzo

"Catan translates surprisingly well to the Live Arcade, and this is mainly because of its smart design choices and addictive multiplayer offerings. The game may initially be a bit too challenging for people who've been throwing down on Uno for the last while, but it really does reward some patience and subtle strategy. Catan is a surprisingly addictive game and the treatment it has received for Live Arcade is to be commended. You'll need to invest some time to learn all aspects of the game, but once you do, it is one of the more rewarding experiences on Xbox Live." - Glenn Wigmore
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"The Contra series is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and Contra 4 is a gift to the fans. If you're a fan of the series or even if you just like shooters in general, Contra 4 is the game for you. Between all of the bonus modes, two full NES games and an insanely hard main game, Contra 4 will keep even the most hardcore 16-bit gamers busy for a long time. I cannot recommend it enough." - John Scalzo
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